24/7 Wall St. » ARB

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (ACI, NFLX, KMI, KMP, HNZ, AVP, GT, WPI, ARB, BWA, CPLA, FOSL, HSP, OMC, ZIP, KORS, SYNM, CHTP, ENER, JKS)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:10:40 +0000

US stock markets opened lower this morning and gradually lost ground throughout the day. A fractionally lower opening bell has translated to around a -0.6% loss on each of the major indexes about half an hour before closing. Last night’s downgrade of the sovereign debt of six European countries set the tone in both Asia and Europe, but by mid-day, a fairly weak report on US retail sales and a more modest than expected rise in business inventories kept share prices from rising. In the late afternoon, Eurozone leaders canceled tomorrow’s meeting on the Greek bailout saying that Greece had failed to meet several demands related to the proposed $172 billion bailout. Germany’s finance minister even displayed a “who cares?” attitude toward the possibility of a Greek default (our story here). Crude oil was mixed today, with larger early gains lost on the weak news and the stronger dollar. WTI crude rose 0.08% to $100.99/barrel and Brent crude rose 0.25% to $117.68/barrel. Gold was down -0.4%, settling at $1,717.70/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 4 points to 12,878.28 (0.03%), the NASDAQ rose less than 1 point (0.02%) to 2,931.83, and the S&P 500 fell -0.09% or just over 1 point to 1,350.5.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) cut to ‘hold’ at Argus; Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) raised to ‘outperform’ and target price raised to $140 at Credit Suisse; Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) raised to ‘buy’ at Deutsche Bank; Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: KMP) raised to ‘buy’ at Deutsche Bank; and H.J. Heinz Co. (NYSE: HNZ) started as ‘underweight’ at Morgan Stanley.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) is up 1.2% at $17.74; Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT) is down -5.7% at $13.18; Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE: WPI) is up 3.8% at $59.89; Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) is up 4.4% at $36.94; BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE: BWA) is up 0.42% at $79.18; Capella Education Co. (NASDAQ: CPLA) is down -13.3% at $39.30; Fossil Inc. (NASDAQ: FOSL) is up nearly 13% at $118.02; Hospira Inc. (NYSE: HSP) is up 6.7% at $36.50; Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) is down -0.23% at $47.91; and Zipcar Inc. (NASDAQ: ZIP) is down -13% at $13.99, a new 52-week low.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: KORS) is up nearly 25% at $41.92 after posting a new high of $42.43 earlier today. The apparel company reported better-than-expected earnings today, and the shares have more than doubled since the company’s IPO in mid-December.

Syntroleum Corp. (NASDAQ: SYNM) is up up 20% at $1.32. The biodiesel maker’s joint venture with Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN) has signed a deal to distribute synthetic diesel fuel.

Chelsea Therapeutics International Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTP) is up nearly 19% at $3.69. The company’s shares fell almost -40% yesterday, but bargain hunters can’t resist. We mentioned this possibility yesterday.

Energy Conversion Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER) is down more than -80% to $0.29. The solar maker filed for bankruptcy this morning. We have more coverage here.

JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: JKS) is down nearly -12% at $7.95. The solar panel maker is just one more victim among solar stocks today of a proposed cutback in Germany’s solar subsidies and the bankruptcy of ECD. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher is giving a speech. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
8:30 a.m. – Empire State manufacturing survey
9:15 a.m. – Industrial production
10:00 a.m. – Housing market index
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
2:00 p.m. – FOMC minutes released

Paul Ausick

Filed under: General Tagged: ACI, ARB, AVP, BWA, CHTP, CPLA, ENER, FOSL, GT, HNZ, HSP, JKS, KMI, KMP, KORS, NFLX, OMC, SYNM, WPI, ZIP

Top Analyst Downgrades (ARB, DB, ETFC, FPL, HXL, M, SFD, UA, ZUMZ)

247wallst — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 11:55:19 +0000

These are most of the top early bird pre-market downgrades and negative research calls we have seen from Wall Street analysts this Wednesday morning:

Arbitron (ARB) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Deutsche Bank (DB) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
E*TRADE (ETFC) Cut to Underperform at FBR.
FPL Group (FPL) Cut to Hold at KeyBanc.
Hexcel (HXL) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Macy’s (M) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Smithfield Foods (SFD) Cut to Underweight at Barclays.
Under Armour (UA) Cut to Sell at Wedbush Morgan.
Zumiez (ZUMZ) Cut to Sell at UBS.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: ARB, DB, ETFC, FPL, HXL, M, SFD, UA, ZUMZ

Top 10 Early Bird Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (COGT, PSUN, RMD, NCTY, SAFM, UTHR, ARB, CS, CTRP, SUN)

247wallst — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 07:11:25 +0000

These are ten of the early bird analyst upgrades and downgrades we are seeing from Wall Street this Wednesday morning:

Cogent Inc. (COGT) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Pacific Sunwear (PSUN) Raised to Neutral from Sell at UBS.
ResMed (RMD) Started as Buy at Jefferies.
The9 Ltd. (NCTY) Raised to Hold from Sell at Citigroup.
Sanderson Farms (SAFM) Raised to neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan.
United Therapeutics (UTHR) Raised to Neutral from Sell at Piper Jaffray.
Arbitron (ARB) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Credit Suisse (CS) Cut to Sell from Neutral at UBS.
CTrip.com (CTRP) Cut to Sell from Buy at Citigroup; price target cut to $30.40 at Credit Suisse.
Sunoco (SUN) Cut to Sell from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Jon C. Ogg
November 19, 2008

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: ARB, COGT, CS, CTRP, NCTY, PSUN, RMD, SAFM, SUN, UTHR

The 52-Week Low Club (MOT)(AMD)(S)(C)

247wallst — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:01:25 +0000

AMD (AMD) Downgrade. Prospects seen as dim for next few months. Drops to $9.80 from 52-week high of $23.

Motorola (MOT) Verizon Wireless opening its system? No other news. Falls to $14.87 fro 52-week high of $22.55.

Sprint (S) Competitor Verizon Wireless did open its system. Could be competitive advantage over Sprint. Drops to $14.22 from 52-week high of $23.42.

Citigroup (C) New Abu Dhabi investment of $7.5 billion come with an 11% junk level coupon. Shares off to $29.60 from 52-week high of $57.

Arbitron (ARB) Delays launch of its radio ratings system. Down to $34.81 from 52-week of $55.63.

Bearingpoint (BE) Not much news. Stock seems to keep falling. Drops to $3.06 from 52-week high $8.63.

Bare Escentuals (BARE) President resigns. Down to $19.83 from 52-week high of $43.22.

Douglas A. McIntyre